SIR – Schumpeter was right to draw attention to the lack of interest from company managers about political risk (February 12th). That criticism can be extended to business schools, which, with some exceptions, still teach strategic management with a blissful ignorance of the political context of modern commerce. Read through several leading strategy textbooks and you will look in vain for any serious discussion of the place of government in the strategy process.

The term “political risk” does not help. It reinforces the tendency among academics and managers to see government as an irritating and unwelcome interloper in the otherwise smooth running of the market. It is also the case that for many managers, mention the word “politics” and they think of “corruption”.

Many collective problems, from trade to the environment to labour issues, could do with more input from companies. More than a decade ago David Baron, an academic, drew attention to the need for firms to integrate market and non-market, that is political, strategy. A greater integration of political science and management studies would be an important step to answering his call.

In a world where many of the largest corporations are state-owned or sponsored by activist governments, the scholarship in management strategy desperately needs to update its thinking about the political environment.

SIR – Your leader on the changes sweeping through the Arab world focused on political factors, but largely ignored the more materialistic anxieties present in these countries (“The awakening”, February 19th). History provides us with many examples of political turmoil caused by declining living standards. James Chowning Davies, a political scientist, has tried to find a common thread that explains revolutions and unrest. Looking at the French, Russian and Egyptian (1952) revolutions as well as the American civil war and urban black riots of the 1960s, his “J curve” theory indicates that all of those examples occurred when a period of improving economic and social conditions was followed by a short, sharp reversal in those conditions.

Before the current economic crisis Arab nations such as Tunisia experienced consistent growth. These countries had stubbornly high unemployment rates, but the rally in commodities prices that saw food prices soar over the past year proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back. The Arab awakening is no less an aversion to a drop in living standards in these countries than it is a reaction to decades of oppression and injustice.

Economic downturns have ironically proved to be a more effective factor in fighting totalitarian regimes than any single piece of American foreign policy.

Nezare ChafniDubai

SIR – Bagehot wrote about the fight to keep the Isle of Wight intact as one constituency in the House of Commons, rather than split it because it has too many voters (February 19th). But there is a way to retain political districts with distinct identities, even if over the years they have ended up with too many or too few voters.

In these cases constituencies could keep their historical boundaries, but their MPs would get a weighted vote in Parliament. For example, an MP from a constituency with a baseline electorate of 60,000 would get to represent one vote in Parliament, whereas an MP from a district with 45,000 people would equate to 0.75 of a vote and his colleague with 72,000 voters would weigh in with 1.2 votes, and so on.

A constituency's borders could be redrawn only when a seat becomes worth more than, say, 1.5 votes or less than 0.5 votes in Parliament. With computers, counting votes in Parliament would be no more complicated than it is under the current system.

Hans WeytjensGrünwald, Germany

SIR – I was delighted to see that The Economist has changed position and now argues that “short-term rates are too blunt an instrument to deal with the many threats that a financial system may face”, and that macroprudential (non-interest rate) tools are needed to deal with financial imbalances (“A more complicated game”, February 19th).

Did you not previously notice that policies which lean against the wind were typically espoused by those who had no responsibility for monetary policy—bankers, academics, journalists and some international institutions—while central bankers, who understand the many practical difficulties with such policies, were unpersuaded?

* SIR – Your briefing provided a thoughtful analysis of the role of central banks in financial systems. But the accompanying image of a chess match features an illegal back-row pawn and improbable positions: uncastled kings, strangely placed knights and bishops, overly ambitious rooks and a curious shortage of pawns, all pointing to a dangerous game being played by amateurs who have set everything up all wrong. Was this a subtle dig at central bankers?

William van der KampSaskatoon, Canada

SIR – Your special report on feeding the world (February 26th) incorrectly quoted me as saying that “the biggest contributors to the World Food Programme…are all BRICs” and that “when secretive North Korea began to engage in talks over nuclear disarmament, the first countries it spoke to were big grain exporters”.

In fact, BRICs are not the largest contributor to the WFP, but they have recently joined the list of the 40 biggest contributors. And North Korea reached out to build diplomatic relationships in general, not necessarily because of nuclear disarmament. Many of the countries that were included in its outreach were big grain exporters.

* SIR – The notion that Canada remains “proud of its welfare state”, and is “a country that the Liberals can recognise perfectly well, with big government largely intact” might have been true at the start of the 1990s, but no longer (“The circumspect and circumscribed Conservative”, February 12th). Over the past 20 years Canada has cast off its socialist stereotype.

The tide started to change in the early 1990s with a left-wing government in Saskatchewan, followed by Conservative governments in Alberta and Ontario and the federal Liberals (a centre-left party), as governments of all ideological stripes began reducing excessive spending.

Spending by all levels of Canadian government peaked at 53% of the country's GDP in the early 1990s, plunging to 40% in 2008. In the early 1990s, the size of Canada's government sector was equal to the euro-area average and 22% above the OECD average. Today, our government is now 14% smaller than the euro-area average, slightly smaller than the OECD average, and just about one percentage point bigger than the United States.

Historic reforms were enacted to the country's welfare programmes in the mid-1990s. By 2000, the number of welfare beneficiaries in Canada had declined by more than a million people, from 10.7% of the population to 6.8%.

At over 40% of GDP, Canada's government is still much too large and economically damaging. But Canadians are not “proud” of the current welfare state. Health care, the largest component of government spending, continues to be dominated by the state but a great majority of Canadians (80%) want major reforms. And nearly 50% tend to support market-oriented reforms.

Many countries could learn valuable lessons from Canada. Over the past 15 years Canada has moved towards smaller government and lower taxes. The move however wasn't sparked by an ideological battle between liberals and conservatives; it just made good old Canadian sense.

Niels VeldhuisVice-president, ResearchFraser InstituteVancouver

SIR – Indonesia's introduction of quotas on Australian beef (“A row over cows”, February 19th) is further evidence of a growing confidence in Asia to impose smart retaliatory trade measures on goods from rich countries. In Australia the unions orchestrate trade cases against Indonesian imports, the big supermarkets refuse to stock Indonesian products and the media are downright derisive about the country. Perhaps Jakarta decided it could just live without Australian beef. China learns even more quickly. Governments in the rich world succumbing to protectionist pressures should reflect on the unintended consequences and collateral damage to their exporters and investments in these high-growth Asian markets. We will probably see a lot more beef to come.

John RussellManaging directorNorth HeadBeijing

SIR – Your article regarding the recent fine imposed on Chevron by a court in Ecuador in a long-running environmental lawsuit seemed to suggest there is some doubt about which party is being mistreated (“Monster or victim?”, February 19th). A quick review of the case shows that Chevron has been subjected to a flawed process that has been condemned by multiple courts. Consider the following: Texaco Petroleum Company (TexPet), which Chevron later bought, was a minority owner, holding 37.5% of the oil consortium being sued in the case; the largest shareholder was Petroecuador, Ecuador's state-run oil company.

In the 1990s the Ecuadorean government approved the environmental remediation actually performed by TexPet, and released TexPet from any further liability when it left the consortium after its contract expired. The State Department and the World Bank have raised serious concerns about the rule of law and corruption in the Ecuadorean government and judicial system. Federal judges in New York, North Carolina, New Mexico, New Jersey and California have found the evidence in this case to be rife with fabrications, fraud and misconduct.

Facts and the basic rule of law demonstrate that Chevron is the victim.

Linda MenghettiEmergency Committee for American TradeFrank VargoNational Association of ManufacturersStephen CannerUnited States Council for International BusinessJohn MurphyUS Chamber of CommerceWashington, DC

SIR – The future of strip malls in America may well lie in “boutique” cities (“Stripped”, February 19th). But something else interesting is happening. Although they were once considered an unattractive option for strip-mall developers because of their once-a-week traffic, churches are now being courted for their reliable rent and consistent attendance. Empty cinemas and oversize bookstores are the perfect choice for smaller churches looking to establish their presence without having to pay out for stained glass and a vaulted ceiling.

Many traditional churches are opening branches in strip malls to attract a younger and newer audience. With music concerts, youth groups and other activities held on days other than a Sunday strip malls get more traffic. As churches in the United States splinter into smaller, more contemporary units, I can only help but think that there is now something to believe in—at a strip mall.

Stephanie KemlerSuperior, Colorado

SIR – Having recently become a widower, I was intrigued by Joyce Carol Oates's supposed misery in her memoir, “A Widow's Story” (“Give warning to the world”, February 12th). Sceptical of those who use three names, and also of many writers of fiction (adapting George Bernard Shaw: those who can, do, those who can't, write), I find it odd that Ms Oates's husband, whose 50 years of closeness she claims to be missing, “never read her fiction”, even though he was a literary editor. It is like being sexually active but having a celibate marriage. No wonder she wed again so swiftly.

Cecil SandersonCheltenham, Gloucestershire

SIR – This must be the millionth letter you have received about your caption that wrongly labelled a picture of a waning moon (“Waxing in Rio”, February 19th). Here's how to tell the difference. Hold out your right arm and look at your index finger and thumb; that's a waxing moon. Hold out your left hand; that's a waning moon.

Richard SmithLos Angeles

SIR – With due respect to the use of historical idioms by both Lexington and Mark Twain (Letters, February 26th), I prefer the following: Every time history repeats itself the price goes up.